Volvo XC60 Towing Capacity - Sanity Check

Kerb weight-wise the caravan would be fine on a California, despite only being front wheel drive and with 40 less bhp. The nose weight might be less as the Cali was lowered also. I'm starting to understand vehicle weight vs. safety ability in tight breaking situations or dealing with too much gravity.

Probably the best best when looking at towing weights is to read tbe clubs advice using the tabs at the bottom of the page

I contacted the dealer this morning to discuss. He advised that the towing capacity should be "like 4 like" and is a grey area. He said that I should take the gross weight of both car and caravan and the towing capacity of the vehicle. This clearly does not reflect the CC guidelines per the link below. He struggled to undderstand kerb weight vs. gross weight. well, I did as well at first in the OP. Clearly confusion reigns even with dealers.

The dealer probably knows perfectly well but is hoping you don't. Towing capacity as I explained earlier has no bearing on what is or is not safe to tow a caravan on the roads. 

85% of kerb weight is a reasonable margin of safety especially for someone new to the game.

 Anyway, you have had the sense to ask for help so now it's up to you 

Good luck 

To establish the actual kerb weight of the car, why not clear it of contents, back to the as delivered condition and take it to a weighbridge?  Weigh it with a roughly half tank of fuel and the driver.  You will get a certificate showing the weight.

You can then better calculate the percentages and decide what you are happy with.

I would also suggest you ask the dealer to have the van weighed, as they can often weigh a good deal more than the stated MIRO.  Plus of course there may be added items such as a mover, which eats into your payload.

You then  need to check what this weight includes.......spare wheel, .battery, gas bottles, EHU cable, step, .....?  The caravan industry keep changing what they include in MIRO.

This will then give the real picture of the payload availabe to you, it may not  be as much as you think!

Consider also that you may wish to add a mover if one is not fited already.

Reading your post again, I see this is a 2008 van, same year as ours.

At that time our MIRO (a Swift Group van) was the van as supplied (with spare wheel), and the EHU cable, the step, a half tank of water, fluids in the toilet, and a 20 litre waste container.

It did not include a battery or any gas bottles.

I mean, you go on like this till it drove you mad right? I'll stick with the CC and this threads recommendation for my first purchase. All I can use are manuals. We are not going to load gold bars into either vehicle so a lighter caravan will be ideal. I got space hungry when I saw the Delta with little knowledge about capacity guidelines.

Gold bars - I like that idea!

Good luck, David. It's good that you asked advice and, as well as weights, you've learnt not to take notice of a dealer. 

I have spare capacity so feel free to load your Gold bars into either my caravan or my car.

Seriously, its always best to stand back and have a good long think before taking the plunge. It's perfectly normal to see a nice caravan and set your heart on it then the reality sets in and you realise its just too big and heavy for the car you have.

A bit of experience under your belt (perhaps you will feel the caravan have an occasional wag and note when it happens and how it affects your car) and then you can re-visit what combination will work for you with some knowledge behind you.

Much better to discuss it all (and hear all points of view) on a forum than wonder what the hell happened upside down in a ditch.

I contacted the dealer this morning to discuss. He advised that the towing capacity should be "like 4 like" and is a grey area. He said that I should take the gross weight of both car and caravan and the towing capacity of the vehicle. This clearly does not reflect the CC guidelines per the link below. He struggled to undderstand kerb weight vs. gross weight. well, I did as well at first in the OP. Clearly confusion reigns even with dealers.

Write your comments here... . Many salesmen are only out for the sale & don't pay too much attention to club guidelines . Motto 'buyer beware' . FYO  Lunar Clubman SB is around 1495 fully laden on a single axle & tows like a dream.  You should be able to pick up  a  decent 5yr old for 10K . Ours is a 2012 , the beds are comfy too . The noseweight is a lot less than 90 kgs & needs to be front loaded to get up to 70 kg